HTC Could Launch 7 and 12-inch Windows RT Tablets in 2013

HTC is certainly not the top manufacturer in the Android world today and clearly hasn’t been having a good time in the market. But there have been hints at a revival by the company with the industry standard setting HTC Butterfly and its subsidiaries, which has opened the doors for 1080p display panels to be used on a smartphone. However, its aspirations in the tablet industry weren’t all that positive. As it launched the Flyer and Jetstream (AT&T) last year, we would have felt there would be more coming from the manufacturer. But there wasn’t and we though perhaps HTC wanted to solely focus on smartphones. But now, a report claims that HTC could be looking to launch Windows RT tablets in 2013.

Details about this are scarce, but it seems like HTC could finally get a fully fledged Windows RT tablet of its own, the first for the Taiwanese manufacturer. Bear in mind that HTC had previously claimed that it won’t concentrate on the tablet market in the U.S. But back then, we weren’t sure of Microsoft’s Windows RT building interest in third party OEMs. It is said that HTC will launch a 7-inch and 12-inch tablet, catering to the budget segment and the high end segment respectively. And these tablets will run on Qualcomm designed chipsets, and not Tegra 3 as used by the Surface RT. The big surprise is the 7-inch tablet, which apparently can also make phone calls. Now that’s very unique and something we don’t expect from a Windows tablet. So we recommend you to take this with a pinch of salt for now. This is also strange because Windows RT isn’t supported on 7-inch tablets, as it’s not as versatile as Android or iOS. But it is believed that Microsoft will roll out an update called “Windows Blue” which will fix that limitation.

I personally feel Windows RT tablets made by major OEMs like Nokia, HTC and Samsung could go a long way in popularizing the concept in general. But for companies like Nokia and HTC, this is a new niche. These manufacturers are historically known for their cellular devices, and making the switch to tablets shouldn’t be a bad idea. Nokia in particular which works in close quarters with Microsoft, could benefit a lot from the company’s support. The HTC tablets will apparently break cover in the third quarter of 2013. So will we see the tablets being announced at the CES or MWC? That’s highly unlikely, and we’re guessing HTC would take to the IFA event in 2013 to announce the device. There’s still a long way to go, and we expect to hear rumors and tidbits of the alleged new tablets as days go by.